Chocolate Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Did anyone know that hazelnuts are also referred to as 'Filburts'? Just wanted to put that out there for starters. I have never cooked with hazelnuts before, but this rainy and damp weekend seemed like a good first time to try.

I was not aware that hazelnuts need to be blanched before cooking to remove their tough skins. After some googling/trial and error, I found that the best method was to boil 2 cups of water, add 3 tablespoons of baking soda, add the hazelnuts for 3 minutes, and drop them into a bowl of ice water. After this process, the skins came off like a breeze, and I was ready to get started on my coffee cake.

 

 

Chocolate Cinnamon Coffee Cake adapted from Bon Appetit

½ cup blanched hazelnuts

4 ouncesbittersweet chocolate chips

½ cup unsalted butter

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup sugar,

2 cups all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1¼ cup plain Greek yogurt

• Preheat oven to 350°. Butter 8” square baking pan; set aside. Toss hazelnuts, chocolate, cinnamon, and ¼ cup sugar in a bowl.

• Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter and remaining sugar in a large bowl until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating to blend, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. With mixer on low speed, add dry ingredients and yogurt, alternating, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. 

• Pour half of batter into prepared pan and smooth top; top with half of hazelnut mixture. Spoon remaining batter over and smooth top; top with remaining hazelnut mixture. Bake cake until top is golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 35-40 minutes.

I also added a simple glaze, made with powdered sugar, almond milk, maple syrup and cinnamon. Because I'm fly like that.